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CVG Sources Claim Wii U Is On-Par With PS3 … Almost

AI and physics likely to suffer in Nintendo’s new console. Will games like the Batman Arkham City run smoothly?

Developers familiar with the Wii U dismiss rumours that the console will be below Xbox 360 and PS3 performance levels

“The Wii U will be less powerful the Xbox 360 and PS3.” That’s nonsense, according to CVG. Their sources are saying that the Wii U is on-par with the PS3, but processor-intensive games are struggling to keep up. The site also says the Wii U could lag behind in areas such as AI and physics, which doesn’t sound good for first-person shooters who are coming to the platform.

The source also says that assuming the console will just scale up titles isn’t accurate: “Assumptions that Wii U games will look like … current gen titles with better textures aren’t quite right.”

CVG cites a second source who says the Wii U matches current HD console in terms of RAM and GPU, but also confirmed the console struggled to match the Xbox 360 and PS3 in processing power.

Not promising

That doesn’t sound promising with engines such as Frostbite 2, which are pushing current consoles to the limit. It also doesn’t sound good for games trying to push 60 FPS.

The source said there have “definitely been some issues” in bringing over Xbox 360 and PS3 games, particularly with AI and physics. If Nintendo is bringing over ports of third-party titles for its launch lineup, but they aren’t the best ports, then where is the incentive to buy the console? Chances are we won’t see a full-fledged Mario or Zelda title on launch, so there’s no killer app (what we know of) for the console.

On first party titles, the source said “I suppose you don’t need sophisticated physics to make a Mario game.”

Despite this, Gearbox COO Brian Martell claimed the Wii U had a “great processor” and “more RAM.” It’s unclear whether these developers are talking about the current version of the console, as there have likely been multiple builds for developers, or they’re just not telling the truth.

My guess is that the Wii U will perform better than the Xbox 360, because the console is launching this year and therefore has recent internals. I think Microsoft and Sony will reset the balance in 2013.

Written by:Jon Charles Jonathan is a writer on the technology and video game industries. He is comfortable with using Mac OS X and Windows; he began using Windows with Windows XP during his early double-digit years, and started using OS X in 2009 on a MacBook Pro. He began gaming on the SNES back in the 90s.